Carnations
by taitofan
Summary: Shuu decides to get the girl of his dreams a special Valentine's Day present... And while he's at it, something special for the guy of his dreams too.


Carnations

by Taitofan

Rated PG-13 for het and yaoi

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Such crazy love triangles could only happen in the deranged mind of a fangirl.

Author's note: Ah, contestshipping. The only "almost-canon, insanely popular" ship that I have any attachment to. But alas! It directly conflicts with my OTP, tensionshipping! So how to fix such a dilemma? Easy, write them both! Het and yaoi await all those brave enough to read both. Um, no real humor, but there's enough sap to make your teeth hurt. And if you think Shuu actually acting his age is OOC, so be it. Other than that… Enjoy the Valentine's fluff!

Japanese lesson: -chan is added for random reasons… In this case, Harley is just fond of using it to make fun of Haruka by calling her "Miss Kinda." -kun is typically used for younger males.

Flames do nothing but make me laugh, although I'll listen to any CC you have. Please read, review, and enjoy! Finished 01-28-06

* * *

Shuu walked through the streets of Kaina City, looking for someone in particular… She was bound to be around somewhere, though it was anyone's guess where. She moved around a lot, barely ever being found in the same place twice. But once he caught a glimpse of red, he knew he'd found her.

"Amelia!" A young woman with short dark blue hair and light brown eyes looked up from the roses she was tending to. She smiled as she saw her best customer headed towards her flower cart. She'd had a feeling she'd be seeing him… After all, Valentine's Day was today, and there was a contest going on in just a few hours. If ever there was a time for him to buy his favorite roses, today was the day.

"Ah, Shuu, I was hoping I'd see you. The regular, right?" Shuu shook his head, looking… nervous? She'd never seen him nervous about buying flowers… Could he actually have someone specific to give them to this time? The thought made Amelia giddy. Young love was always so sweet!

"No, I always buy roses. Today I need something new, something…"

"More romantic?" she suggested when he trailed off, uncertain of how to word his feelings. He nodded, realizing completely how ironic it was to call _roses_ unromantic. "It's all right, I understand. If you give your special someone roses today, she might not think it's anything out of the ordinary. You need a flower that will tell her, 'You're special and I love you.' Oh, this is so exciting! Now, tell me what she's like." Shuu flushed slightly at the florist's enthusiasm towards his love life, but knew it was best to just answer quickly and get this over with…

He couldn't be late to the contest after all.

"Well… I started out teasing her because she was a rookie, but we became friends really quickly. She's still naïve though, and she lets her head get pretty big sometimes… But she's sweet and caring, and she loves her friends and family." Amelia nodded knowingly. She had a few ideas in mind for this girl…

"And when you see her, how do you feel?" The blush was back as he was forced to admit such things to his _florist_ of all people.

"Well… Happy. She makes me forget about my troubles and just enjoy life, you know? She smiles and suddenly, so do I…" In fact, he was smiling just thinking about her, a fact that Amelia found much too adorable to be healthy. Yes, she knew _just_ the flower for her.

"You want a white carnation for your little lady. They symbolize pure, sweet, innocent love." She turned around for a moment before presenting him with a beautiful white carnation, already cut and ready for the taking. "Shall I ring it up for you?" Suddenly, Shuu's nervousness was back in full force, effectively confusing Amelia.

"Well, not quite. I mean, I'll take it, but…" He wouldn't look her in the eyes, and it rather alarmed her. What happened to the cocky little boy she was so used to seeing? Was there _another_ girl in his life too?

"But what Shuu? You can tell me." He took a deep breath and managed to tear his gaze from the ground.

"I need another flower for someone else… Someone completely different." Ah, so she'd been right. Well, he was young. He had plenty of time before he had to make up his mind.

"Sure thing kiddo. Just tell me what she's like and how you feel about her, and I'll get the perfect flower in no time!" And the blush was back _again_. If he wasn't careful, it was liable to become permanent…

"It's…" The rest of his answer was so mumbled that Amelia couldn't even begin to decipher it. What was the big secret? It wasn't like he was in love with another _guy_ or anything, right?

"Come again? I didn't quite catch that."

"It's not for a girl… He's a guy." …Or maybe it _was_ like that.

"Well, that's okay. If he likes flowers, than you're all set, right? Now stop being so shy and tell me about this guy who has you so nerved up!" Shuu let out a relieved laugh. He should have known that Amelia would understand. She did sell roses to an eleven-year-old boy on a regular basis after all…

"He's definitely not like anyone I've ever met before. He's tall and sexy, but completely insane sometimes. He goes from being childish one minute to homicidal the next… But every time I see him, my heart speeds up and I lose my breath. It's almost like I'm drowning, but I don't want to be saved. And the craziest thing is that we aren't even friends. In fact, he hates the girl I was telling you about. I know I shouldn't like him, but I just can't help it… Does any of that make sense?" She nodded sympathetically, the whole situation intriguing her. He was in love with two different people, of different genders, who were enemies. This was better than those discount store romance novels!

"Of course it does. But are you sure he's, you know, into other men? I don't want to be discouraging, but—"

"Don't worry," he cut her off, a tone of amusement evident in his voice, "I know without a doubt that he's gay. _Very_ gay." She giggled at his sudden good mood and immediately picked out the perfect flower.

"Here we are. This is another carnation, but red ones mean deep, passionate love. The kind that causes your heart to ache at the sight of them. And judging by the way your eyes glaze over when you talk about him, I'd say that the way you feel about him is _just_ like that, right?" He didn't say anything, but his grin spoke volumes. She returned the sentiment and swiftly rang up the price of his carnations. He paid for them and carefully took the delicate flowers with a grateful look.

"Thanks Amelia." She gave him a playful wink and waved him off.

"Don't mention it. Now get a move on Romeo! You don't want them to wilt before you can deliver them, do you?" Without another word, he was sprinting off towards the contest hall, leaving the florist alone with her flowers yet again. She desperately wanted to follow him and see how things turned out, but…

But he'd be back. Whether it was for his normal roses or more flowers for whomever he ended up choosing, she'd seen him again. It was all a matter of time.

* * *

Haruka and Harley stared at the flowers thrust in their faces with a mix of awe and confusion.

"Shuu," Haruka questioned as she took her white carnation, "why are you giving us flowers?"

"Duh Kamo-chan" Harley scoffed, taking his red carnation gleefully, "it's Valentine's Day. What I don't know is why he gave _you_ a flower too." She frowned at his haughty tone and stuck out her tongue.

"I know what day it is thank you very much! And it's obvious why _I_ got one. What's your excuse?"

Shuu shook his head as they began to bicker back and forth. He knew that there were some extremely large differences between the two objects of his affection. One was a girl; one was a guy. One was his age; one was almost ten years older. One was sweet and naïve; one was flamboyant and temperamental. One had a childlike interest in both sexes; one wanted men and only men. And then there was the undeniable fact that they hated each other's guts. But still…

"Well, _my_ carnation is red. And everyone knows that red means love!"

"Almost all flowers stand for some kind of love! _Mine_ is white, and that's _much_ more original than boring old red."

…He couldn't help but love them both.

"Why don't we just ask Shuu-kun which of us he likes more?" Haruka didn't look like she wanted to agree with the older coordinator, but it did seem like the best idea… Of course, she knew that Shuu liked her more than _him_.

"Fine! Shuu, who—" She stopped as she noticed that the boy in question was nowhere to be seen. "Where'd he go?"

"You obviously scared him off," Harley chastised her, not at all happy that he was alone with his least favorite person in the world on Valentine's Day instead of with the cute boy who frequented his dreams every night.

"Me!"

Shuu had never personally seen a young girl and a gay man fight over the boy they liked before, but he was sure it was going to be interesting. Perhaps it was sadistic of him… But then again, he was the one who had to go through the trouble of having to choose in the end. So as he viewed it, whoever the higher power in the cosmos was, they were pretty sadistic themselves.

He hid behind a corner and watched the two coordinators exchange harsh words. It was rather depressing to think that he'd eventually have to turn one of the down, but for now, he was still young. He had plenty of time before he had to make that hard decision. Besides…

'_They're both **really** cute when they're mad._'


End file.
